Textile yarn and method of making the same.



UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

AUBREY E. MEYER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TEXTILE YARN AND METHOD OF MAKING- THE SAME.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, AUBREY E. MEYER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Textile Yarn and Methods of Making Same, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to textile yarn and method of making same. One of the objects of the invention is to provide a fibrous yarn or so-called thread of the character used in textile fabric of the interlaced strand type, having sufficient strength for such use, and having its fibers lying more parallel than has heretofore been accom- -plished,-whereby the appearance and quality of certain kinds of such fabric are greatly improved. By more parallel I mean lying side by side in a more longitudinal direction.

By a fabric of the interlaced strand type I- mean one Whose strands areinterlaced one with the other, such for example as woven fabric, or one whose strand is interlaced on itself as for example knitted fabric, etc.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and eflicient method of making such yarn.

My invention comprises, in its broader aspect, the replacing of a substantial amount, I

or all, of the otherwise necessary twist in such fibrous yarn of any particular specie, by a suitable adhesive, and this is accomplished according to my invention by untwisting such yarn having a suitable adhesive thereon or therein. The invention does not contemplate the application of an adhesive to' yarn for the purpose of further strengthening twisted yarn v beyond the strength that such yarn would have if given the usual necessary twist to enable it to be handled and used in making fabrics of the above type, for the strengthening of thread and other strands by the application of an adhesive such as wax is well known, as well as is the coating of strands with an adhesive to protect the strand from abrasion, or to render it waterproof in fabric. But the invention provides for a more parallel arrangement of the fibers themselves of such yarn or thread forvarious purposes; and to accomplish this, the strengthening factortwistis partially or substantially wholly replaced by the other strengthening factor-adhesive. The decrease in twist, i. 6., a more parallel arrangement of the Specification of Letters Patent.

ric of the interlaced strand type.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

Application filed Apri1 7, 1917. Serial No. 160,494.

fibers in the yarn, is very desirable for many purposes, among which the following may be mentioned. It gives to the. yarn a better filling quality or greater fullness or loftiness for the same weight of yarn, and in most instances a higher luster. A fabric made from yarn or threads according to my invention, can be more easily waterproofed after being fabricated. It will also take any coating more readily and probably more rigidly, such as coatings to manufacture imitation leather or glazed cloths, etc. It can also, especially when knitted, be more easily combed open teazeled so as to give the product a napped, woolly or hairy or fur-like appearance. It will thus be seen that my inventlon does not deal with the protection or additional strengthening of yarn having the usual or heretofore necessary twist, but it deals rather with the elimination of a substantial amount of the heretofore necessary twist, or substantially all or all of the twist, with a view of acquiring greater luster and loftiness in fabrics made therefrom and also other resulting properties.

Yarn made according to my invention may or may not be stronger than it would be with substantially more twist and no adhesive, and the invention is unconcerned with the relative strength of the two, so long as the untwisted and gummed yarn of the invention has suflioient strength to be handled in its manufacture and used in making fab- In referring herein to yarn havin substantially less twist than heretofore o tainable, and in other such expressions of comparison, I intend to compare or contrast a yarn that is otherwise the sameyarn made of fibers of a certain specie, such for example as cotton or wool, and of a certain or givengraded length, for obviously a yarn of a particular size made, for example, from cotton with fibers 1% inches long, such as sea island cotton, is not the same specie as the same size yarn made from cotton of a shorter staple, say one inch long. And like wise, yarn made from wool-the fibers of which are say for example of a grade .7} inches long, is not the same specie as a ya :11 made from cotton whose fibers" are 1% inches long; so that the only way in which relative amounts of twist in yarn can be compared or considered, is to compare the effect of the same yarn i. e, one 'of the same specie and length of fiber with more or less twist.

I have observed, other things bein equal,

that the less twist a yarn has-'i. 6., t e more parallel its fibers, the greater is the gloss tain size (the size being determined by the length of yarn spun from a given weight of fiber), when the yarn is partially untwisted its fibers are not held together so closel and the bulk of the yarn increases, and t is continues as the untwisting of the yarn is continued, until the fibers lie substantially parallel; so that if a piece of cloth is woven from the fully'twisted yarn, and a piece woven from the partly twisted yarn, a comparison of the two pieces of cloth will show that the piece woven from the fully twisted yarn is more wiry, thinner and harder than the other, and has larger interstices or air spaces between its interlocked threads-'i. 6., lacks homogeneity; whereas, the piece woven from the partially untwisted yarn is softer, thicker and more uniformz. 6-, has less air space area, or, in other words, is a more lofty piece of goods, and in addition, has more luster, provided the yarn is of a specie having luster. This last feature 1s of special importance in silk fabrics and in certain woolen fabrics, notably mohair and similar luster fabrics.

In view of the fact that the less twist that is given a yarn in spinning it the greater is the length of yarn that can be spun from a given amount of stock, and the greater is the amount of yarn that can be produced in a given time it has been the aim of spinners, except in manufacturing yarn to be used in weaving wiry, porous, or certain ribbed goods, to manufacture yarn of any specie with as little twist as has been found requisite to the strength of the yarn for its being successfully handled commercially in windingit upon and unwinding it from bobbins and for subsequent use in weaving, etc. Long or high-grade fibers obviously require less twist per inch to hold them together than is required by short fibers, and the minimum amount of twist required for yarn of a given specie has been rather definitely determined by usage and practice, however, varying in practice over a very small percentage range.

paratus and in the same manner as ordinary yarn.

The invention will be more readily unthe twist.

derstood by first describin the preferred method of forming yarn emaodying my invention, which is as follows: I

I take yarn after it has been spun in the usual manner, from sliver, roving, etc., and wound upon suitable bobbins or cops, and having the necessary twist for being so handled and for permitting it to be gummed, and I then gum it in any suitable manner; as for example by passing it over gummed rolls or through a suitable basin containing the adhesive, and after it has been gummed I brush it, if desired, as it leaves the rolls or basin, and then dry'it as it leaves the brushes, if used, so that the gum will bind the fibers together. I then take out a substantial amount or substantially all of the twist, as

may be desired in the particular case; depending upon the m wholly or in part to hold the fibers toget er so as to give the yarn its necessary strength for use in forming said fabrics of the interlaced strand type. The twist may be taken out in any way desired, as by placing the co in a twisting frame and rotating it in a irection to untwist the yarn, as is practised in the art with ungummed yarn, but I do not wish to limit myself to any particular manner of taking out Or, instead of taking a spun yarn that has already been copped, and gumming, untwisting and recopping it, I may gum it during the spinning operation 2'. 6., after twist has been put in it by the spinning of the yarn and before it is wound upon the cop 0r pirnafter which the twist ma be taken out as described.

arn thus formed may then be usedfor weaving or knitting fabric or otherwise making fabric of the interlocked strand type, and after the fabric has been woven or knitted in any well-known manner, I then dissolve out the gum or adhesive from the fabric. Any suitable adhesive may be used that can be readily dissolved from the fabric, such for example as glue, gelatin, starch, etc. The interlocking or interlacing of the yarn or threads of the fabric one on or with the other, gives the fabric the necessary strength after the adhesive has been dissolved from the yarn or threads.

It will be observed that yarn made according to my invention from long high-grade fibers, has ample strength and may have its fibers lying more parallel than has heretofore been possible in any fibrous yarns of suflicient'strength to be wound upon or unwound from bobbins when spun, or capable of being woven into fabric; and that when it is desired, the fibers of such yarn may have substantially no twist, thus obtaining the maximum benefit of the invention as regards both luster and fullness of the fabric. But it will also be .apparent that yarn made ac cording to my invention from shorter and inferior fibers of a given specie, likewise has ample strength and will have its fibers lying substantially more parallel than would have been otherwise possible in the same yarn;

and that this yarn with inferior fibers can be made to have its. fibers lying even more parallel than has been heretofore practical with the highest grade fibrous yarns, thereby making it possible to obtain'with a cheaper grade of yarn having comparatively short fibers, a woven fabric of a high luster and better filled than has been heretofore obtained with a high grade yarn with much longer fibers. In addition to these advantages, the length of the yarn obtainable from a given amount of stock is increased proportional to the amount of twist dispensed with.

As showing the necessity of twist in yarns heretofore and the narrow range of reductions heretofore permissible from the minimum amount of twist used in practice in yarns of different species,or, in otherwords, as showing the well-defined minimum limits in twists, it will be helpful to consider one or two species by way of example. But I will first state by way of explanation as to re uisite strength of yarns, that in the.

in weaving requires less strength. Where-- as, the use of the yarn as a warp strand in weaving in some species of yarn requires sizing to protect it from thechafing action of the skidding operation of the shuttle, etc:

and the yarn, to stand the operation of sizing as it is practised, requires even greater strength than is-required in unwinding the yarn; and hence yarn that is to be sized for use as a warp strand, requires more twist than is necessary to unwind the yarn from a bobbin or cop. With this understanding of the requirements of strength in a yarn for the diflerent operations, if we consider a high-grade 20-1 cotton yarn made of sea island cotton, where the staple or fiber is 1% inches long, it has been observed from practice that 7 turns (which means 7 turns or twists per inch) is suflicient for the use of the yarn as a weft strand in weaving, provided the yarn is spun directly onto the cop or pirn that is to be used in the shuttle, but yarn with 7 turns is not strong enough to be recopped or wound from one cop or bobbin onto. another; and the same yarn with 6 turns can be spun but cannot be unwound from a cop or pirn when in the loom, without breaking. It is thusseen that in this instance a reduction of one twist in seven is the difl'erence between success and failure in the use of this yarn; while the same yarn, to have suflicient strength to withstand the 66 operations necessary for it to pass through to prepare it as a warp strand for weaving, such as spo'oling, warping and slashing, will require from 14 to 15 turns.

In the case of cotton yarn of another specie, for example a 20-1 cotton yarn made from a staple 1% inches long, 9 turns per inch is suflicient in practice for unwinding the yarn from bobbins and utilizing it as a weft strand in weaving, while 8 turns is insufiicient. It will thus be seen that with this species, one turn in nine is the difference between success and failure as regards Weaving.

It will thus'be seen that by my invention a fabric can be obtained from yarn of a given specie that is more valuable and desirable for many purposes than could have been made from the same yarn without my invention.

By the term gummed or gumming as used in the appended claims, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to'a gum in the strictest sense of the word as distinguished from other forms of adhesive, but wish to be understood as including the use of any suitable form of adhesive, the important thing being that a suitable adhesive is present in the yarn when the same is untwisted so as to bind the fibers together. Where in the specification and claims I use the word untwisted, referring to yarn, I use it in its ordinary meaning, namely, as defining a yarn having a partially or wholly removed previous twist, and do not mean by such word to refer to yarn which has either. not been twisted at all or has been slightly twisted and remains in that condition. And by the term recopping I-wish to be understood as meaning the coiling or winding or re-coiling or re-winding of the yarn upon any suitable form of support or in any suitable manner in such compact form as to enable subsequent handling, shipping or use of the same. I

While I have described my invention in ters Patent, is

1. The method of forming fibrous yarn of the character used in the manufacture of textile fabric of the interlaced strand type, which comprises applying an adhesive to a twisted yarn and then sufliciently untwisting it to obtain a yarn with the desired lack of twist and requisite strength.

2. The method of forming fibrous yarn of the character used in the manufacture of textile fabric of the interlaced strand type, which comprises twisting and gumming the fibers of the yarn and then untwisting them.

3. The method of forming fibrous yarn of thecharacter used in the manufacture of textile fabric of the interlaced strand type, which comprises taking twist out of a gummed twisted yarn.

4. The method of forming fibrous yarn-of the character used in the manufacture of textile vfabric of the interlaced strand ty e, which comprises taking the twist out of a gummed, twisted and dried yarn.

5. The method of forming fibrous yarn of the character used in the manufacture of textile fabric of the interlaced strand type,

which comprises forming the yarn with the.

requisite tWist for strength, applying an adhesive, and then untwisting the yarn to ob-. tain a yarn with the desired lack of twist and requisite strength.

6. The method of forming fibrous yarn of the character used in the manufacture of textile fabric of the interlaced strand type, which comprises applying an adhesive to yarn having twist, untwisting it, and recopping it after it has dried sufficiently to permit recopping without the coils sticking together.

7. The method of forming fibrous yarn of the character used in the manufacture of textile fabric of the interlaced strand type,

'Which comprises applying an adhesive to yarn having twist, allowing the adhesive to dry, and then taking the twist out and recoping.

. 8. The method of forming fibrous yarn of the character used in'the manufacture of textile fabric of the interlaced strand type, which comprises applying an adhesive to a yarn having twist, allowing it to dry sulficiently to bind the fibers to give the yarn the necessary strength for untwisting it, and then untwisting the yarn.

9. As a product of manufacture, a gumm'ed untwisted fibrous textile yarn of the character used in the manufacture of textile fabrics of the interlaced strand type.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my named to' this specification.

AUBREY E. MEYER. 

